The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Indian juniors hoping for good results

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 23, 2005

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Indian juniors hoping for good results

By Our Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 22. A full-strength junior Indian hockey team is ready for a take-off to Kuala Lumpur.

"This time there would be no room for any excuse,'' said the Junior National coach, Harendra Singh, as he commanded his players during Tuesday afternoon's training session at the National Stadium here.

As a warm-up for the June World Cup in Holland, India is to play in a six-nation tournament in Malaysia from March 27 to April 3. England, Germany, Korea, Pakistan and Malaysia are the teams taking part in the tournament.

Eye opener

The experience during the four-nation event in Pakistan was an eye opener. The Indians lost to the host twice, including the 2-0 defeat in the eventful final, drew with South Africa and managed win against Japan.

``Since five experienced players were busy with their examinations, we tried the younger lot and were able to spot the talent,'' said Harendra Singh. After gaining valuable experience in Pakistan, Ajmer Singh, Ajitesh Rai and Senthil have jelled well with the team that is training for the Malaysian outing.

``Boys have got along well with the combination. The five experienced players, Adrian D'Souza, Sandeep Singh, V.S. Vinay, Tushar Khandkar and Adam Sinclair, have added strength to the team that we probably missed in Pakistan,'' he said.

With all six teams having qualified for the World Cup, the competition will provide good opportunity for the defending champion, India, to assess its strengths and weaknesses.

Perfect event

"This is a perfect event to judge the areas where we might have loopholes. Germany is a tough team while Korea is the fittest so I couldn't have asked for any better competition in the run up to the World Cup.

Captain Prabodh Tirkey is the lone player of the 2001 Hobart World Cup winning squad. ``The way the things are moving I am hoping for good results in Kuala Lumpur,'' Harendra Singh said.

The 18-member team has been selected after three-day trials that commenced on Friday. The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), however, refused to divulge the names as the clearance from the Sports Ministry was awaited. The IHF has, however, got visas for all the junior players who participated in the camp. The team flies out on Thursday night.

The schedule:

March 27: England v Germany, India v Korea, Malaysia v Pakistan.

March 28: Germany v India, Korea v Pakistan, England v Malaysia.

March 30: Malaysia v Germany, Pakistan v India, England v Korea.

March 31: Germany v Pakistan, Korea v Malaysia, India v England.

April 2: Pakistan v England, Germany v Korea, India v Malaysia.

April 3: Placement matches and Final.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport